Ratchet frowned worriedly. He watched the door she left through and sighed, getting up. "June, I'll be back. I'll make you tea too, what sounds good to you? Chamomile? Green? Chai?" Ratchet grunted as he got off the bed, walking around to gently kiss his wife's head. "I want to check on her one last time." He murmured, rubbing her cheek gently. The old doctor was very worried about her.
"I'll be fine. I like any tea, love. Just go check on her." she whispered and gently gripped his hand then kissed it. They could hear the family talking and saying goodbye to the young woman. The wreckers wanted to know if she needed help, and she said she was fine.
The doctor smiled faintly and kissed his wife's hand before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. He walked down the hall and into the living room. "Skye... can we chat for a moment?" He called as he rubbed his face a bit to wake up and adjust to the bright lights.
She was talking to her family and giving them goodbye hugs. She looked at him and hesitated then nodded slowly. She went over and hugged his arm as he stumbled a little. "Easy Grandad." She whispered quietly and led him somewhere they could speak in private.
The old man followed her quietly, gripping her hand. He frowned as he soon was alone with her. "Is it a good idea for you to continue this? How do we know you're safe when we don't know these people and neither do you? You only work with them... you can't trust them all the time." Ratchet murmured as he rubbed her cheek, looking at her with concern. "We're all here and I understand you want to help people but... maybe when you aren't going alone you should do this." He advised her. "I'm worried about you, Skye."
She nodded as her tears fell and she gently gripped his hand. "I know... and thank you so much for being here... but I never go alone... I'm with Zane and the others on my team." She whispered quietly. "I'll... be... okay..." she choked again. "I'll have my team and Zane protects me." She said as she smiled sadly.
Ratchet sighed heavily. "We don't know him. You may but... I haven't even had a full conversation with him. Don't go on the next mission, please." He frowned, rubbing away her tears. "There will be plenty of more missions to come, Skye. Just settle down for a bit here." He tried to persuade her.
"Grandad... it's complicated... if I don't go... they'll think I've abandoned the cause, and come looking for me." She whispered as she gripped his arm. "I can try to leave... but... that won't help right now.... I would have to go through the system and..." she sighed forcefully and hung her head as she gripped his arm more. "I don't want to go... but I don't want to bring the soldiers' wrath on my family..." she rasped.
"What cause?" He frowned deeply, looking at her confused and worried. "Skye, what did you get yourself into?" His eyebrows furrowed. "I'll go with you and we will sort this out together."
"Grandad..." she whispered quietly and gently gripped his face between her hands. "I'm with the soldiers... a group of them. We go up to the surface and look for people. Then we come down and report. The problem with me not going or me just leaving.... is they'll think I've gone to the Decepticon's side." She explained as she watched him. "But that's okay... you and papa go talk to my leader while I'm gone... but... I have to go..." she whispered.
"That's ridiculous! You are not going. You will take a sick day." He frowned deeply. "Any group that strict, is not a good group they cannot assume something like that so quick." He shook his head.
"They only assume it because it's happened before." She said as she looked at him and stepped back as she buried her face in her hands. "I only joined... so I could find my family..." she whispered and looked at him again. "I didn't have anyone... I was alone and wanted to help... this was what I wanted to do." She whispered.
Ratchet pulled her close to him as he hugged her gently, stroking her hair. "You did a great job. You found me." He smiled a bit. "We're going to fix this, alright? Don't go today, I can make it seem you have the flu if need be. Me and Miko will go tomorrow to these people and have a word."
She shook her head and hugged him tighter as she buried her face in his chest. "Grandad... I-" they heard a knock on the front door and she looked to it as she stayed in his arms. She shook as her grip tightened on him. "Oh no..." she whispered.
Raf went to the door and opened it then his smile faded as he saw a tall man in a soldiers uniform. The soldier stared at him and narrowed his eyes a little. "Where is Skye Darby and why is she associated with you?'" He growled lowly.
Ratchet frowned hearing the voice and hurried Skye into a nearby room, laying her down and taking off her shoes. "Get under the covers, we will handle this." He said as he rushed into the bathroom and grabbed a rag, wetting it then rushing back into the room, placing it over her forehead, holding a thermometer in his hand. He turned on a lamp and pressed it against the bulb.
"Grandad... please..." she begged quietly as her fear grew. She bit her lip and glanced to the doorway nervously. She had a job to do and shouldn't be doing this.
"Hush and do as I say youngling." Ratchet grunted as he watched the numbers climb on the thermometer. "I'm not scared of any soldiers. They should fear me." His eyebrows furrowed, grunting again, looking at her and bringing the blanket over her.
She sat up and gripped his hand between both of hers as she gave him a pleading expression. "Grandad.... listen to me... please..." she whispered as she stared at him intently. "It'll be okay..." she said as she rubbed his knuckles with her thumb. "I... I have a... part to play..." she choked.
The doctor frowned as he put the thermometer in her mouth. "No. You are saying this as if you joined a cult." He gripped her hands tightly. "You are fine. You did not sign your life away for a simple job. If they are true humans they will understand you cannot be there all the time." He grunted.
Skye frowned deeply and sat up as she gripped his face and tears fell. "Grandad, it's not a cult. It's the army." She said seriously as she glared a little. "How is this different from what mom and dad do? From what you and your team have done? Don't you think maybe I'm just trying to help our people? Grandad... I love you so much... but I can't... I can't stand to watch people die around me." She whispered quietly. "I have to help however I can." She said.
The old man paused, frowning as he stared at her. His expression softened and he sighed. "I am a medic. It is fairly different from what you do. I was fighting a war. I had no choice but you do." He murmured softly and took her face in his hands. "I can't stand to know you may never return...Skye I barely remember you. I only know bits and pieces. I don't want to get rid of someone I know I love." He whispered, his eyes watering as he grew more scared. "But...I know I can't stop you so I guess I'll just let you go." He murmured shaking his head.
She shook her head and choked back a sob as she wiped his tears away. "Don't forget then." She said as she smiled slightly. "Don't give up Grandpa Ratchet." She said as she smiled sadly and gently gripped his face. She kissed his forehead then smiled again as she hugged him tightly. "It's okay..." she whispered again then got up.
Ratchet trembled a bit, his worry only increasingly. He hugged her tightly, frowning. "I won't, Skye...please be safe." He murmured and began letting go. Skye hugged him tighter and gently kissed his cheek then let go. She then quietly slipped out of the room.
~
Rafael frowned deeply. "Skye Darby is a part of our family. She is in the back with her grandfather...may I ask what this is about?" Rafael asked with furrowing eyebrows, the others going silent and looking over at the door.
The man furrowed his brow as he watched him. Then looked over to the others in the room. "She has a job to do and we need her with us." He said seriously. "We need to go rescue people and if we don't hurry, they could end up dead." He said seriously.
"Well you're doing a world of good by wasting a lot of time being here instead of looking for people." Wheeljack spoke up with a quirked eyebrow, huffing. "If you're in a true hurry you can go do it on your own."
The man stared at him and narrowed his eyes. "I don't know who you think you are, but you don't understand how things operate around here." He said as he glanced at the wreckers, the parents, the twins and finally the few others. His eyes stopped on Riley and he narrowed his eyes a little. "Skye has a part to play in our team, and without her we can't succeed." He said sternly.
Wheeljack scooted to the edge of the couch, glaring as Riley flinched at their gazes, turning away quickly. "Hey, I may not know how your military works but I know a strict hard commander when I see one and you need to loosen up a bit. She has no part to play like some lead role actor. You can manage without her." Wheeljack narrowed his eyes, protective of the young woman.
The man looked at him and frowned deeply. "I don't think you understand." He said seriously. "She's the smallest in our group and she's been training for this mission." He muttered. "If she doesn't go, we fail and we fail the people we are trying to save." He said as he watched them.
The reckless wrecker frowned. "Why did you train her for such a big mission? She is young." His face twitched from anger to confusion. He leaned back as Bulkhead prevented him from getting up and confronting the man face to face.
The man frowned deeply and looked at him then at Jack who was glaring at him. "She came to us. Because she didn't have a family. They all come to us and want to help. We don't go to them and we don't make them do anything." He said seriously.
"Well she has a family now and you're very much contradicting yourself. You are making her join righ-." Wheeljack went silent as Bulkhead gave him a small look. There was no point in arguing. Besides, they could understand. It's not as if they didn't do a mission for Optimus.
"True that she has a family but many of our people don't. And-" He stopped suddenly as he heard someone walking in.
"I'm here sir. Just saying goodbye." She said seriously as she looked at him then hugged everyone again before leaving.
"If you have a problem with any of this, you can talk to our leaders." The man said and left as he shut the door.
Ratchet followed her quietly and frowned more. He watched her leave and sighed heavily, pausing before going into the kitchen to make his wife tea as Wheeljack scoffed.
"Primus, all armies are so stupid. They are too strict about everything." The reckless wrecker grumbled and crossed his arms, looking away with a slight shake of the head.
"We have to play by the human rules. It's what Optimus would want." Ratchet spoke up quietly as he warmed a cup of water as he grabbed a tea bag.
They fell silent and Adrien stared out the window as he watched his sister leave. He sighed forcefully and rubbed his face. "I feel... awful though.... we should be helping them.... not watching her go." He said quietly.
"Or keeping her from going at all. Ever again. We all know how dangerous it is up there." Hunter said angrily. "She's our baby sister and we literally just got her back." He huffed and folded his arms like a child.
"You're both right..." Jack said as he stared at his hands. "We need to talk to her leader and get these kids out of that program. They shouldn't be up there." He said as he remembered his time at Darkmount, then when he was stepped on.
Ratchet's fingers shook a bit as he put the tea bag into the warm mug. He was feeling the same they all were. "You can't stop her, Hunter. I've tried at least three times. We need to go to the leader like Jack said." He said in agreement, pouring a bit of honey into the tea.
The nervous young woman frowned as she listened. "Maybe we can get Agent Fowler to say something too. I doubt we can do too much of a difference because they didn't care what we had to say but... I don't know." Riley sighed and dropped the crayon in her hand, thinking. "Shouldn't the army have a... uh... I forget the term but you can drop out? Or is that not a thing?"
"Riley is right... we need to go to the leaders and talk to them." Adrien whispered as his sister disappeared from view. "Agent Fowler might be able to help us get in to meet them..." he sighed forcefully.
"I'll go." Jack said as he slowly stood up and narrowed his eyes. "I need to get my daughter out of this." He mumbled.
"Ep! Ep! Ep!" Ratchet interjected, walking over with the warm mug of tea. "You are going nowhere. I will go down in the morning and get this sorted. All of you need rest and to calm down." He grunted in protest.
"I'll go with you in the morning." Jack said seriously as he looked at him. Not leaving room to argue. "She's my daughter and I need to know what's going on." He said and the others glanced at him. The twins wanted to help too but knew better than to push their luck.
Ratchet grunted at him. Jack may be stubborn but Ratchet was the true mule. "Jack, you are still recovering." He pressed. "Are you certain you can walk this much?"
~
Skye walked to the train station as she shook in her boots. She put on her helmet and gripped her gun close as she stood with the others. Zane went by her and gripped her hand as they got on the train. They all got in and we're all afraid but tried not to show it. The train closed its doors and rolled away. "This is a suicide mission..." she rasped as she gripped his hand and stared straight ahead. A tear fell down her face as he narrowed his eyes.
"I know..." he whispered back and glanced back towards the city. "We all know..." he whispered.
A small man watched them, frowning deeply. He stared, gripping his gun tightly. He soon turned and looked to the window, watching the scene around them pass by in a blur. It was a quiet train ride to the location, everyone was paler than normal skin color and was staring distantly in deep thought. They all wished they could change their mind.
One of the other soldiers rocked slowly as he hummed to himself and closed his eyes. Tears fell down some faces and they silently wished someone cared for them. Skye closed her eyes and squeezed Zane's hand as they went to their deaths. They were going to Darkmount. The train was the only sound, drowning out some soldiers' cries as they got closer and closer by each minute. Soon the train began breaking as they were coming to a stop, smoke filling the air.